After starting things off on a bit of a sour note, the president and ceo of the newly created entity of Palmer Jarvis DDB says he’s encouraged by signs of new business at the Toronto shop.

Six staffers at the former DDB Group Canada office in Toronto were given their walking papers at the beginning of the month prior to the completion of the purchase of Palmer Jarvis by Omnicom, ddb’s holding company.

Notable among those leaving is vice-president and media director Michele Pauchuk, who had been with the agency since 1987.

Palmer says the dismissals were in the works prior to the purchase and were the result of account losses in 1997 (including Panasonic) although people will believe the merger is to blame.

In reality, Palmer says, all signs are positive for the Toronto agency. He says several potential new clients have already approached the agency and he expects some of the talks to result in new business.

In the meantime, Palmer says one of his first priorities for Toronto is to appoint a new general manager to handle the daily operation.

He says that position is a necessity since Palmer himself is based in Vancouver and Stephen Thursby has relinquished the title of agency president to concentrate on his role of executive creative director with additional responsibility for interactive advertising.